Samia to Toronto. 163 



Crosse in all its elegance. The supple and athletic forms of 

 the men are brought by it into bold relief, the only ornament 

 worn being paint over the body, which, with the usual 

 exception, is entirely naked. The balls used are formed of 

 a deerskin bag, stuffed with the hair of that animal, and sewn 

 with its sinews. The clubs are about three feet long, and 

 have at the lower end a sinewy netting, not unlike a tennis- 

 bat. With these they catch and hold the balls, and though 

 not allowed to touch it with the hands, it is sometimes kept 

 from once touching the ground for a whole afternoon. 



These Indians, perhaps, retain the customs of their 

 fathers to a greater extent than any other half-civilized com- 

 munities of them, and as guides with the rod or gun, they 

 are invaluable : they seem, however, to be yearning for the 

 hunting-grounds of the West, and we may probably, before 

 many years are over, hear that they have migrated in a body 

 beyond the Great Lakes. 



Galt and Guelph, north-east of Paris and Brantford, are 

 thriving places, though with no speciality to attract atten- 

 tion. Five miles from Hamilton we come to Dundas, at 

 the head of the Desjardins Canal, which runs to Burlington 

 Bay. Dundas is celebrated for its manufactories, and for its 

 beautiful rural scenery. It is the seat of many private resi- 

 dences of the Hamilton merchants. 



The City of Hamilton is situated on Burlington Bay, at 

 the western extremity of Lake Ontario, and from its zeal 

 and eagerness has been named "the ambitious little city." 

 It was laid out and settled in 18 13 by a person of the name 

 of Hamilton. It is situated on a plateau of slightly elevated 

 ground, winding around the foot of a hilly range, which 

 extends from Niagara Falls, and which here receives the 

 name of "the mountain." It was of great importance, in a 

 military point of view, before commerce thought of it for- a 

 city. General Proctor, who was commanding the army of 

 the West in the war of 1812, made this spot a resting-place 



